On December 12 Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian held meetings with the Heads of Delegations participating in the 29th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the BSEC Member States which took place in Yerevan.
During the meeting with Kristian Vigenin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria Edward Nalbandian congratulated him upon the assuming the Chairmanship-in-Office of BSEC and stated that Armenia will do its best to support Bulgaria during its chairmanship.

At the meeting agenda issues of the BSEC Organization, the priorities of the Bulgarian chairmanship as well as the ways of triggering the regional economic cooperation were discussed. Ministers also referred to the steps undertaken for the improvement of the bilateral relations and to Armenia-EU partnership.

Minister Vigenin invited Edward Nalbandian to pay an official visit to Sofia.
During the meeting with Edward Nalbandian Victor Tvircun, Secretary General of BSEC congratulated the Foreign Minister of Armenia upon the successful Chairmanship and the results achieved. During the conversation the sides touched upon the results of the Armenian Chairmanship in BSEC, the functioning of the BSEC Permanent Secretariat, the deepening of cooperation in the framework of the Organization and the steps undertaken towards the activation of economic partnership in the region.

At the meeting with Vasily Nebenzia, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, questions concerning the implementation of the important arrangements reached during the recent state visit of the President of Russia to Armenia were discussed. During the conversation the sides also discussed in detail the preparatory works for Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union.

During the meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu Edward Nalbandian reaffirmed the principled position of Armenia on the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations without any preconditions. Ministers also touched upon the future activities of the BSEC.

During the meeting between the Foreign Minister of Armenia and George Ciamba, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania issues of bilateral agenda were discussed. The sides highlighted the role of the Armenian community of Romania in the development of relations. They also touched upon Armenia-EU relations. Minister Nalbandian presented the steps of Armenia and the international community towards the peaceful resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh issue emphasizing the importance of the support to the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

During the meeting with Roksanda Nincic, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia the latter passed the message of Serbian Foreign Minister Ivan Mrkic and the invitation to visit Belgrade to Edward Nalbandian. During the conversation the sides exchanged views on Armenian-Serbian political dialogue, the activation of cultural exchanges, the expansion of the legal framework and stressed the importance of holding consultations between the Foreign Ministries.

At the meeting with David Jalaganiya, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, the importance of organization of high-level visits, permanent contacts between the Heads of the Foreign Ministries and holding periodical consultations was underlined. The sides also referred to the work of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation and arranged to hold the upcoming session at the beginning of 2014.

During the meeting between Armenian Foreign Minister and Kyriakos Gerontopoulos, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece both sides expressed satisfaction upon the high level of Armenian-Greek friendly relations. In the context of the Greek Presidency of the EU starting from January 2014 the sides had an exchange of ideas concerning Armenia-EU relations.

During the conversation with Alqi Puli, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania Edward Nalbandian stressed the importance of undertaking practical steps for the activation of bilateral cooperation. Alqi Puli underlined that his country wishes to expand relations with Armenia and is ready to exert further efforts to that end. Both sides highlighted the significance of holding periodical consultations between the Foreign Ministries and deepening of trade and economic relations. Minister Nalbandian presented the efforts of Armenia and international community towards the peaceful resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh issue. In this context Deputy Foreign Minister of Albania expressed his country’s support to the work of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

During the meeting between Edward Nalbandian and Valeriu Chiveri, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova the sides discussed the implementation of the arrangements made during the visit of the President of the Republic of Armenia to Moldova on June 11-12 this year and the steps undertaken in this direction. The sides also touched upon the preparatory works of the upcoming official visit of the President of Moldova Nicolae Timofti to Armenia as well as referred to expanding the legal framework between the two countries, activation of trade and economic relations and triggering cultural exchanges. Both sides highly appreciated the positive developments in Armenian-Moldovan relations which provide an